


A Day At The Office

by NarutoRox



Category: The Morganville Vampires - Rachel Caine
Genre: Don't worry it all works out in the end, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Light Angst, Myrnin's Lab, POV Second Person, Prompt Fic, Suspense, The perils of working for a crazy mad-scientist vampire, probably
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-05
Updated: 2015-05-05
Packaged: 2018-03-29 05:23:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3883975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NarutoRox/pseuds/NarutoRox
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The minute you step into the lab, you know something is wrong. The room is a mess; granted, its always a mess, but generally you like to think of it as controlled chaos. This, though...this is different.</p><p>You don't see Myrnin.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Day At The Office

**Author's Note:**

  * For [VampireMinded](https://archiveofourown.org/users/VampireMinded/gifts).



> This fic was requested by [Kazzy_Kins](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kazzy_Kins/pseuds/Kazzy_Kins), who wanted Myrnin/Reader story with Myrnin going feral and Reader calming him down. I don't know if this is exactly what you had in mind as it turned out a little more suspenseful than I originally planned, but I hope you like it! :)
> 
> Unbeta'ed and my first time writing second-person POV, so apologies in advance for any mistakes or discrepancies.

**~A Day At The Office~**

* * *

 

The minute you step into the lab, you know something is wrong. The room is a mess; granted, its always a mess, but generally you like to think of it as controlled chaos. This, though...this is different.

Surveying the room, you see experiments you've been working with on the far table have been thrown off and into the floor. Another table that usually holds chemicals and beakers has been overturned, and you can see where some of the more corrosive chemicals are eating away at the floor. There are fumes in the air, too, that make you want to cough and gag, so you reflexively bring your sleeve up to cover your mouth and nose as you continue to take stock. Papers, most of them Myrnin's notes, are strewn about, and an entire bookshelf has been ripped from the wall, the books themselves torn and shredded.

Even without all of that, though, you would still know something is wrong. There's a...feeling, in the air, in your bones, that makes your heart-rate go up, your hair stand on end, and your stomach swoop. It's your instincts screaming at you, telling you something is amiss. Telling you that you are prey, and that a predator is near.

You don't see Myrnin.

Your pulse picks up, and despite all of your instincts telling you it's a bad idea, you step further into the lab. You think you see something move in your peripheral vision, but when you whip around to look, nothing is there.

You swallow.

"Myrnin?" you call softly, willing your pulse to slow and voice to remain steady. "Hello? Myrnin, are you down here?" After all, he might be hurt. Someone could have come down here, trashed the lab, attacked him or staked him and left him for dead.

That person could still be here, somewhere, hiding and waiting for you to let your guard down. That person may very well be Myrnin himself, in which case you should probably leave and try to contact Amelie.

You don't.

Instead, against all better judgment, you make your way further into the lab.

"Myrnin?" you whisper, knowing he'll still be able to hear you with his enhanced hearing if he's still here. "Myrnin, are you still here? It's me-"

There's a loud crash as books and glass jars fall off a shelf to your left. You jump and back away from the noise instinctually, but you're not watching where you're going, and your foot comes down on an unbroken beaker, tripping you up. You cry out as you fall to the ground, and before you can even register the pain of the fall there's a body on top of you.

You lash out in a panic, fighting and trying to break free, but the figure just holds tighter, snarling, and it's not even a fight, really. Whoever it is has you pinned flat on your back, a hand in your hair wrenching your head to the side to expose your neck.

 _'Vampire'_ you think, though the knowledge does little to help you. You can't fight off an angry, hungry vampire barehanded, not like this. Whoever he is, he hasn't bitten you yet, but-

You recognize the dark mop of hair. You would recognize it anywhere.

"M-Myrnin?" you gasp, shifting your head as much as you can with his hand still gripping your hair. You swallow thickly when he doesn't react, and try again. "It's, it's okay. It's just me. Remember?"

Myrnin still doesn't react, just remains bent over you, mouth - and fangs - inches from your throat. You don't know what's wrong with him. He hasn't had an...episode in quite a while, to the point you'd almost forgotten to look out for them.

You hear him inhale despite the fact that he doesn't technically need to breathe, and figure that's a good thing. Your scent is all over the lab, and maybe the familiarity of it will bring him to his senses, or at least give him a moment of pause. You gulp, and feel his exhale on the skin of your neck.

"Okay?" you ask softly, realizing he's released your right hand. The thought of trying to reach out and grab something to use as a weapon crosses your mind briefly, but you dismiss it almost immediately when you feel Myrnin start shaking above you. Instead, you carefully move your hand to his back, willing it not to shake and trying to control your breathing.

"It's alright," you whisper quietly, gently rubbing your hand up and down his back soothingly. "Everything is fine, nobody's hurt." You close your eyes and swallow again, praying you're not making a mistake. "I trust you, Myrnin."

Just like that, he's off of you, crashing through broken furniture and equipment in his haste to get away from you. You sit up carefully, unable to stop the hand you curl around your neck protectively. You want to stand up but don't think your legs can support your weight right now, so instead you take several deep breaths and lean forward to place your forehead against your knees.

When you finally manage to compose yourself, you stand on shaking legs and make your way over to the far wall, where you can hear Myrnin's frantic muttering.

You find him curled into a ball, back to the wall. Both of his hands are tugging at his hair as though he's trying to pull it out, and when you crouch down in front of him he doesn't look at you. You start to reach out but hesitate.

"Hey," you say instead, ducking your head to try and make eye contact. He flinches and turns his head, which is how you notice the tear-tracks down his face. That cinches it for you.

"No, none of that." you say firmly, and reach out to grab his chin, forcing him to look at you. He flinches again, but doesn't fight you. You take that as a good sign and reach out to grab his hand as well, giving it a light, persistent squeeze until you feel him return the pressure.

You stay like that for several minutes, long enough that your legs have started to cramp up from the position. At one point you move your hand from his chin to his hair, and start gently carding through it. Shifting slightly to ease the discomfort in your legs, you give his hand another squeeze.

"Are you alright?" you finally ask, when it becomes apparent Myrnin is not going to talk unless you force him. He gives a little start, then positively glowers at you.

"Am _I_ okay?" he snorts derisively. "I wasn't the one who was attacked and nearly killed by a mindless _monster_. _I_ should be asking _you_ that!"

You sigh, because not only has he avoided the question but he has clearly not calmed down as much as you thought. The discomfort in your legs has finally gotten to you, so you slide down and sit against the wall beside Myrnin, shoulders brushing. You don't let go of his hand.

"Not hurt," you say instead of any sort of denial of how bad his actions were, because you know he won't take them well. "Not badly hurt." you amend when he pins you with a look, which is true; you're a little sore and shaken, but nothing is broken or bleeding. His eyes still sweep over you anyway, filled with worry and self-depreciated anger.

"I could have killed you." he huffs quietly, voluntarily making eye-contact for the first time. You give him a brittle smile.

"But you didn't." you point out. He looks away quickly and tries to pull his hand back, but you don't let him. "What happened?" you ask, because something had to have caused this little...breakdown, and you need to keep him talking, keep him from retreating back into his own head.

He exhales loudly, closing his eyes and tilting his head back against the wall. He doesn't say anything for a few minutes, and just as you're about to prompt him to answer he starts speaking.

"I was working on an experiment - the chemical reactions of different hormones added to vampire blood - and..." He swallows, makes a sweeping gesture with his free hand. "I knocked one of the beakers into a Bunsen burner. It exploded. That's the last thing I remember before, before you...well." He knocks his head into the wood once, just lightly, but you reach out to place your hand on the back of his skull anyway so he won't do it again. He opens his eyes and looks at you, and the expression is pure misery.

"I could have _killed_ you." he repeats hoarsely, the pressure on your hand increasing almost painfully.

"But you didn't." you remind him, and then you're abruptly buried against Myrnin's shaking chest, arms wrapped around you like his life depends on it.

" _Mae'n ddrwg gen i_." he whispers softly against your hair.

You don't say anything back, just hold him a little tighter.

**Author's Note:**

> Myrnin's Welsh at the end is "I'm sorry", which came via the wonders of Google Translate. :)


End file.
